HIGHLIGHTS

BSNL 4G users can get up to 10GB data per day for as low as Rs 96 for a month.

BSNL may have been in the news for all the wrong reasons lately but commercially, the state-owned operator has been at its competitive best in a bid to have higher ground over its rivals. Whether prepaid plans or benefits with regards to data, BSNL has been playing its A-game to try to win back customers from its private sector rivals. And to take the game to the next level, BSNL is also expanding its 4G network fast.

However, BSNL's rate of expansion is quite high with regards to the deployment of 4G services. And it seems that BSNL is coming fully prepared to take on its private sector rivals. According to the latest report from Telecom Talk, BSNL is preparing to bring its VoLTE services to all the circles soon and its 4G service will be available everywhere its 3G network exists.

BSNL is the only operator that hasn't been given a spectrum for its 4G services. Hence, in a bid to not lose out on the opportunity, BSNL is now refarming its 3G spectrum to 4G spectrum, similar to Airtel. In fact, BSNL has already started offering its 4G services in many circles in the east and west by reframing its 3G spectrum.

However, there's a drawback to this application. Since BSNL is effectively replacing its 3G service with 4G service, all its 3G customers have to upgrade to 4G SIM cards in order to continue using its high-speed data service. To ensure that this process is smoother, BSNL is offering free 4G SIM cards in these circles for making people switch to its 4G service.

The Telecom Talk report says that BSNL already has over 1 lakh subscribers in the Maharastra circle and to make the service more appealing to its subscribers, the operator is coming up with special offers. BSNL is presently offering prepaid plans of Rs 96 that offers 10GB data daily for a period of 28 days. There's another plan with higher validity of 84 days that costs Rs 236 and offers the same benefits.

However, BSNL isn't restricting itself to 4G service only. The operator is also willing to bring in its VoLTE services and the report suggests that it's already under testing. BSNL VoLTE services are under testing with 30 smartphone models from popular manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Vivo, Nokia, Sony, and more. Support for more handsets is expected to be tested soon.

With VoLTE services, BSNL customers will be able to make voice and video calls over data. It all depends on how BSNL decides to price its 4G tariffs for its subscribers when the commercial rollout happens on the national level.